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Monday 30 August 2004

The World Today is a comprehensive current affairs program which backgrounds, analyses, interprets and encourages debate on events and issues of interest and importance to all Australians. Below is the program summary with links to transcripts and audio (if available).

The election campaign begins

The Prime Minister is inviting voters to trust him for a fourth term in government based on his record and his reliability, compared to an unreliable and untested Mark Latham. The Labor leader, however, is insisting his ladder of opportunity will guarantee a better Australia. But while John Howard says he has plenty of stamina for future leadership, his Treasurer, Peter Costello, has already allowed attention to focus on uncertainty over whether Mr Howard will remain as Prime Minister the Coalition should return to Government.

Senate will sit to reopen children overboard inquiry

Having called the election, the Prime Minister has decided the House of Representatives won't be sitting. But in an unusual move, the Senate will resume, as scheduled, today and sit until late tomorrow afternoon, when the writs will have been issued for the October the 9th poll. That will allow the Opposition parties to re-form the Senate inquiry into the children overboard affair. And even after the Senate has been prorogued, the Senate investigation will continue to run.

Interest rates an electoral concern

It's barely begun and already there's a scare campaign under way, with John Howard warning that a vote for Mark Latham is a vote for higher interest rates. This is a fear that is likely to have particular resonance in the nation's capitals where many households are paying off huge mortgages, no more so than in real estate obsessed Sydney. The World Today's Brigid Glanville went to the Sydney CBD this morning to gauge the reaction from some of this election's potential voters.

Experts see little difference between parties on interest rates

So what do the economic experts think of John Howard's claim that Mark Latham spells pain in the mortgage belt? Well, according to our research, not much. A host financial market economists say they see little difference between the two parties on economic management and they don't think a Labor victory means higher interest rates. And the credit agency Standard & Poors says Labor is no threat to Australia's AAA rating.

Day one of the election race: who do we trust?

Joining us now with their perspectives on the political race are two former high profile federal politicians. Susan Ryan is a former Labor Minister and a veteran of 6 federal election campaigns. She is now a superannuation policy advisor who maintains a strong interest in women's employment and education issues. And John Hewson was the leader of the Liberal Party during the early 1990s capping a 15-year career in politics and he is now Dean of the Macquarie Graduate School of Management and a consultant to the investment bank, ABN AMRO.

Liberal MP Peter King may stand as an Independent

While the Prime Minister may have made his long-awaited decision on when to hold the federal election, another member of the Government is yet to announce whether he'll abandon his party and stand as an Independent. The Liberal MP for the Sydney seat of Wentworth, Peter King, who was dumped by the party in favour of the high-profile candidate Malcolm Turnbull, says he is very close to announcing a decision but wants to consult with his supporters before going public. If he does stand observers say that could cause the Liberal Party to lose its traditional strangle-hold on the seat.

Andrew Wilkie campaigns against PM for Bennelong

Trust may be a key theme for John Howard in this election, but the Greens are campaigning on what they describe as a lack of truth in Government, in an attempt to wrest the Prime Minister's own seat of Bennelong from him. Former analyst with the Office of National Assessments, Andrew Wilkie, this morning called John Howard a habitual liar and accused the Prime Minister of reckless incompetence on issues of national security.

Protestors stage anti-war rally during Republican Convention

To election campaign fever in the United States now and the big Apple is bracing for a week of politics and protests as the Republican National Convention gets underway. The main campaign event for Republicans is being held in New York on the eve of the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a not very subtle reminder that September the 11th has been the defining event of the Bush Presidency.

Peter Costello rules out leadership challenge

As we heard earlier in the program, the Treasurer delivered possibly the first gaffe of the campaign this morning by refusing to rule out a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister. Well, the Prime Minister John Howard has called a press conference a short time ago to attack Labor over its plans to fund workers' entitlements. But the press conference became more interesting when the Treasurer ruled out challenging the Prime Minister.